Three Students Make History for VSU Nursing and the Air Force

VALDOSTA - Crystal Hughes, Michael Jessup and Jacqlyn Sanchez
may look like average nursing students, taking traditional classes
and studying for difficult tests; however, these three are anything
but typical. They are enlisted staff sergeants in the United States
Air Force who are participating in a new program designed to
address a nursing shortage by educating highly qualified enlisted
personnel and commissioning them into the Nursing Corps upon
graduation.

The Nursing Enlisted Commissioning Program allows selected
participants to attend college full-time and earn a bachelors
degree in nursing, while remaining on active duty and retaining
full pay and allowances. Awarded up to $15,000 in scholarship
funding to cover all tuition and books, each student’s job becomes
obtaining a nursing degree from an accredited program as well as
assisting at the school’s AFROTC detachment during school breaks.
Following graduation, participants must pass the National Council
Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX) and complete
training at the USAF Commissioned Officer Training School, before
receiving their assignment.

To be accepted into the new program, candidates must be active duty
(E-4 and above), a US citizen, commissioned by age 42 and worldwide
qualified. They must also meet all requirements for commissioning,
have met all prerequisites for a complete academic review and have
completed 59 semester hours of graded college coursework from a
regionally accredited college or university.

“The NECP is a perfect opportunity for enlisted personnel with an
interest in the medical field to expand their career options,”
Capt. Tim Bazzle, AFROTC Unit Admissions Officer, said. “Enlisted
personnel are normally restrained to a particular area of technical
expertise, but as officers in the Nursing Corps, these students
will really see a lot of opportunities open up for them.”

The NECP began fall semester 2007 with only eight future nurses. An
additional selection board chose SSgt. Hughes, SSgt. Jessup and
SSgt. Sanchez to be three of only 25 Air Force-wide to pursue
nursing degrees through the new program this spring. All three were
stationed at Moody Air Force base prior to the assignment change
and are now enrolled full time at VSU, taking classes like
pharmacology and basic concepts in holistic nursing.

SSgt. Hughes has spent her military career in the medical field as
a medical service craftsman and an Emergency Medical Technician.
The mother of two believes she has found her calling in nursing,
specifically obstetrics, and looks forward to helping address the
USAF nursing shortage. In gaining a higher level of education, she
plans to better herself as a person and become a skilled officer
for the USAF.

A Jacksonville, Fla. native, SSgt. Jessup, loving husband and
father of four, has spent his military career as a C-130 crew chief
and instructor. He has always had an interest in the medical field,
and considered this new program the perfect road to establishing a
new career, through which he could better provide for his family.
Jessup holds two degrees, an A.S. in Aerospace Technology and an
A.S. in General Studies, and he hopes to serve as a flight nurse in
the USAF and obtain a nurse practitioners license.

SSgt. Sanchez began her military career as an Aerospace Ground
Equipment Mechanic before moving into an administrative position. A
mother of two and wife of USAF electrician, Jose Sanchez, she loves
to care for others and longs for the excitement of critical care
and the opportunity to save lives. She looks forward to continuing
her education and becoming a registered nurse or a nurse
practitioner in the USAF.

Hughes, Jessup and Sanchez now embark on an exciting journey
through which they will acquire a Bachelor of Nursing from VSU and
commission into the USAF, which will open them to a multitude of
new career options.

"The NEC Program allows exceptional enlisted Airmen an opportunity
to follow their dream of becoming a nurse,” Sanchez said. “I am
extremely grateful to have been given this opportunity and will use
it to its full extent."

Prior to the establishment of the NECP, their dreams would not be
easily achieved. A win-win for students and the USAF, exceptional
students like these three will fill a void with qualified nurses.
As one of the first schools to educate via the NECP, VSU and its
first three students are helping to make history. If the program is
successful, there will be a steady supply of qualified nurses for
the USAF and a resolution to its shortage.